Virtual Groups let you manage groups of users and computers with SmartEndpoint. You can use Virtual Groups with Active Directory for added flexibility or as an alternative to Active Directory.
Objects can be members of more than one virtual group. Members of Active Directory OUs or groups can also be members of Virtual Groups.
The benefits of using Virtual Groups include:
Virtual Groups work much like Active Directory. You can:
Important - You can use virtual groups to manage computers and servers in all environments. To manage users with a virtual group, you must do one of these steps:
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There are two types of virtual groups:
For example, Media Encryption & Port Protection policy rules normally apply to users, regardless of which endpoint computer they use. However, if a Media Encryption & Port Protection rule is applied to a Computer Group, that rule can be effective before a rule that applies to a user. This is true if the Computer Group rule is above the user's rule in the Policy Rule Base.
These predefined virtual groups are created with users and computers assigned to them automatically:
If you add objects to a virtual group with an installation package, the objects are not automatically put into these virtual groups. You must do so manually.
You work with virtual groups in the Virtual Groups branch of the Users and Computers tree. The virtual groups are located under the Virtual Group branch.
When you create a new virtual group, you must set the group type, which you cannot change. Changes to a virtual group are saved automatically and installed immediately.
To create a new virtual group:
To add computers and users from Active Directory to a Virtual Group:
All users and computers in the specified OU are added to the Virtual Group. If select one of the default Virtual Groups, only those users and computers applicable to that group are added. For example, if you select the All Laptops Virtual Group, only laptops computers and their users are added to the group.
To copy a user or computer to another virtual group:
The source object becomes a member of the destination group while remaining a member of the source group.
To remove a user or computer from a virtual group:
When you distribute a new Endpoint Security client installation package, you can assign users and computers to a destination group. Computers and users that use this package are automatically assigned to the group when they connect to the server for the first time.
For example, an MSP that services 5 organizations can export 5 installation packages to divide endpoints into 5 different groups. Users who install the package designated for Group A are automatically put in Group A. Users who install the package designated for Group B are automatically put in Group B.
To configure a virtual group destination for an installation package:
Change other rule settings as necessary. If you are upgrading from version R73 or earlier, make sure that you configure the legacy version passwords.
The package downloads to the specified location.
Virtual Group objects show in Reporting reports like other objects. You can create for monitoring and other purposes. Endpoints can be members of more than one group.
For example, if you want to do a test of a new Endpoint Security upgrade, you can create a Virtual Group that contains only those endpoints included in the test. Then you can create a report for the deployment and activity of these endpoints.
To see activity for virtual group objects: